By Peter Wharton
Franco Nelson, a former brilliant juvenile pacer and open class star, has joined the stallion strength at Burwood Stud in Pittsworth, standing alongside proven sires Changeover and Cammibest.
His service fee is a realistic $1,650 including GST.
He served a small book of mares in NSW last season, resulting in an almost 90% fertility rating.
Franco Nelson proved himself a top ranking pacer, taking a record of 1:50.3 and winning $872,493, as one of the most fashionably bred horses available in Australia today.
Renowned for his brilliant speed and dour staying ability, Franco Nelson won 23 races - including nine at Group level - over distances from 1609 to 2600 metres.
Racing against horses the calibre of Lennytheshark, Smoken Up, and Tiger Tara, Franco Nelson had less than 90 starts in his career and yet weighed in 48 occasions.
As a two-year-old, he won four and was twice placed in six starts including a win in the Group 2 $40,000 NZ Welcome Stakes and a close third in the Breeders Crown Final.
At three, he earned $149,476 from five wins and two placings in nine starts including successes in the $165,000 NZ Sires Stakes Championship and a Great Northern Derby prelude, while he finished third in the $246,000 GN Derby.
As a four-year-old he numbered among his notable performances a barnstorming win in the $150,000 Harness Jewels in 1:53.1 at Cambridge, as well as successes in the Group 2 Pelorus 4YO Classic at Marlborough and the Group 3 Founders Cup.
Franco Nelson later annexed the prestigious Kaikoura and New Brighton Cups and Hannon Memorial on home soil and finished a nose second to Adore Me in the 2014 NZ Cup, third in the 2014 NZ Free-for-all and fourth in the 2015 NZ Cup.
He completed his racing career in NSW, winning four races in top company at Menangle, highlighted by the Group 1 $100,000 Bohemia Crystal Free-for-all in 1:53.2.
Franco Nelson is a quality young horse bred on a classic cross of blood – that of Christian Cullen his sire and Falcon Seelster his maternal sire.
Christian Cullen was NZ’s leading sire on five occasions and topped broodmare sires’ list four times.
A champion pacer himself, with a bankroll of $1.2 million, Christian Cullen won 22 of his 31 starts including the NZ Cup in record time, the Miracle Mile, Auckland Cup, NZ Free-for-all and Treuer Memorial.
Christian Cullen has matched his greatness as a racehorse in the siring field, and now his sons are achieving distinctions of the same order.
Franco Nelson is a young stallion with the bloodlines, racing performance and conformation to commend him to the most discriminating breeder.
While Franco Nelson continues to stand in Queensland, his future progeny will also be eligible for the QBRED scheme, regardless of where the mare is inseminated and foaled in Australia.